The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is working on a loan for a pharmaceutical company based in Ukraine.

The LLC NVK Ecopharm company has recently been awarded a loan of close to 4 million EUR (3,8 million EUR), by the EBRD. The pharma company based in Ukraine needs the European loan to finish its manufacturing facility in the city of Slavuta (in the Western part of the country) and buy the associated equipment.

The production plant will, therefore, be able to comply with the strict regulations in place for manufacturing medicine. The workers in Slavuta will be required to manufacture, process and package drugs and medical devices. The good manufacturing practices (GMP) are put in place in order to make products safe and effective. Financing will also help the company to increase its exports of goods to other countries inside the CIS area. Furthermore, the company can increase its investments in research and also ensure that its products are fully-compliant with the international GMP standards.

The loan is part of the EBRD Direct Financing Framework, which comes to offer financial support to small- and medium-sized companies. Project implementation will be made possible thanks to the EU4Business programme.

Ecopharm has been an active presence on the Ukrainian pharmaceuticals market since 1998, with a significant presence in neighboring CIS countries. The company specializes in the manufacturing of patented herbal antivirus pills.

The EBRD is considered the largest financial investor in Ukraine. In fact, since the start of its collaboration with Ukrainian authorities, back in 1993, the Bank has invested almost 12 billion Euro, in 369 projects, inside the country.

Furthermore, on May 20th 2016, the EBRD and the EU signed an agreement, under the EU4Business Initiative for 28 million EUR worth of ‘business advice, information, training and other support’ inside Ukraine. The agreement is valued at 40 million EUR.